A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses regarding electrical connectors and cables, and more specifically to methods and apparatus regarding a NATO slave connector designed to connect to a NATO slave receptacle typically found on military vehicles.
B. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art of military vehicles, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Humvee, to provide a direct current (DC) battery supply. This battery supply is typically 24 volts and is typically used to provide power to various devices, such as computer systems and to charge other batteries, etc. As a result, such vehicle batteries typically have a power receptacle typically referred to as a NATO slave receptacle. It is also known to provide a NATO standardized slave connector that fits the NATO slave receptacle so that power can be extracted therefrom.
Many known NATO slave connectors work well for their intended purpose. One such NATO slave connector is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,364,469 which has common inventorship and which is incorporated herein by reference. One problem with known NATO slave connectors, however, is that they are limited in terms of the size of cables that they can be used with. Another problem with known NATO slave connectors is that they are relatively difficult to attach to the cables that they can be used with. The NATO slave connector subject to U.S. Pat. No. 7,364,469, for example, requires an overmolding process to attach the cable to the NATO slave connector.
The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for a NATO slave connector that overcomes the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.